This invention relates in general to shovels and in particular to shovels with auxiliary lifting aids.
Shovels, such as for example, snow shovels, are a combination of a blade and handle arranged so that to effectively use the shovel, the handle must be grasped at two spaced apart locations and the user must bend over to such degree that the user's upper body is almost horizontal with respect to the ground. This particular user position results in significant strain to the lower back area and in addition to more rapidly tiring the user, this strain, may accelerate back injuries or aggravate preexisting injuries. A further disadvantage of such conventional snow shovel designs is that the handle is round and the blade is wide and extends for several inches on either side of the handle, and when material is loaded onto the blade, balancing of the load becomes quite difficult. A still further disadvantage is that the hand of the user which is positioned closest to the blade is twisted when the load on the blade is to be dumped and this twisting places a severe strain on the wrist. In an effort to overcome certain shortcomings and to improve aspects of snow shovel designs, the following list of patents disclose design features which have been conceived.
______________________________________ Patent No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 61,784 Wheat 2/05/67 389,092 Mercer 9/04/88 3,751,094 Bohler 8/07/73 606,534 Gifford 6/28/98 930,660 Gifford 8/10/09 2,967,363 Meier 1/10/61 781,772 Gifford 2/07/05 ______________________________________
Wheat discloses a snow shovel design wherein a short secondary or auxiliary handle is locked to the body of the shovel by means of the ordinary handle. The short auxiliary handle includes an opening for easy grasping and is rigidly attached adjacent one end of the blade, but is not attached directly to the blade.
Mercer discloses a snow scraper which may also serve as a snow shovel and a secondary grip means is provided along the back edge of the blade portion in addition to the cross bar member which serves as the primary means for pushing the snow scraper device.
Bohler discloses an auxiliary handle which is readily securable to a regular handle of an implement such as a shovel, rake or hoe and is designed to be grasped by a person's one hand while the person's other hand grasps the regular handle.
Gifford U.S. Pat. No. 606,534 discloses a snow shovel design which includes an auxiliary hand-grip attached to the regular handle at a location which is spaced apart from the rear edge of the shovel blade portion.
Gifford U.S. Pat. No. 930,660 discloses a snow shovel which includes an adjustable lift handle attached to the main handle portion of the shovel. This particular handle member is similar in design and location to the handle member of the previously listed Gifford U.S. Pat. No. 606,534 and as such, is positioned close to the rear edge of the blade portion of the shovel and extends in length for only a few inches. Thus, the user of such a shovel, as well as the previous Gifford designed shovel, must bend forward and over the shovel in order to grip both the auxiliary handle as well as the primary handle.
Gifford U.S. Pat. No. 781,772 discloses a snow shovel similar in design and construction to the previously two listed Gifford patents and includes a similarly styled auxiliary handle. Although there may be patentable differences between the three Gifford patents, the features which are relevant to the present invention are the size, location and construction of the auxiliary handle, and the designs disclosed do not overcome the disadvantage of having to bend at the waist to almost a horizontal position with respect to the ground in order to utilize the particular shovels.
Meier discloses a manually operated snow plow which includes a handle bar attached to the blade in such a manner that the blade may be adjusted to various angular positions with respect to the handle bar.
While some of the above-listed patents provide gripping means at a second, or auxiliary gripping location space apart from the free end of the primary handle, none of the above patents provide means by which the disadvantage of requiring the user to bend sharply at his waist may be overcome and thus, it would be an improvement to these designs if such means could be provided. Furthermore, none of the above-listed patents disclose an auxiliary handle which attaches directly to the material-transporting surface of the blade portion which reduces the moment arm between the weight and the point of lifting force and makes the load seem lighter.